Do you listen to podcasts? Do you love having moments of discovery for yourself and your life – while also being entertained? If so, check out David Ralph’s sensational “Join Up Dots” Podcast. David’s theme of “Join Up Dots” is inspired by the commencement speech Steve Jobs gave at Stanford where Jobs shared that you can’t join up the dots of life beforehand.

Each day (yes this is a DAILY podcast), David interviews a different individual from around world. His interviews are fun, insightful, and revealing.

When I was on David’s podcast a few months back, I shared with friends and colleagues that he was the most skilled and gifted host I had been interviewed by. Since that time, some of my friends have been on his show and all have agreed at what an incredible podcast David Ralph has created.

Through his down-to-earth approach and his ability to listen for the gifts inside of each comment a guest shares, David takes you, the listener, on a journey you might not have expected, especially when it comes to moments of self-discovery.

David helps each of us listeners discover the journeys of others. By the end of each episode, his guest and him has discussed how the dots joined up to get where they are today. By listening, you gain inspiration and specific strategies for making your own dreams and goals become reality.

Because the show is daily and David’s guests are so different in lifestyles, careers, and stories, you can always find an episode to connect with.

Upon finishing reading Kamal Ravikant’s first book, Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It, I found myself being gravitated toward his style. I’ve always loved easy, quick reads that get you thinking. Maybe that is intellectual laziness on my part or a magnetism toward simplicity.

Kamal’s 2nd book is titled Live Your Truth, a theme I’ve believed in for a few decades. Once again, Kamal did not disappoint. He takes you on quick journeys with many chapters only being a page to three pages in length. Many people will read this book in under 2 hours.

For those of you noticing, I am referring to Kamal Ravikant by his first name. The choice is intentional. Thinking of an author by the author’s first name makes the person more real. I would hope the same for the readers of my books and blog – that they would say, “Mike’s book” instead of “Domitrz’s book” (which seems cold and distant).

If you love to have simple concepts and thoughts that challenge you to look inward, Live Your Truth could be an ideal fit for you. Kamal is great at sharing from his heart, his soul, and his own personal experiences of discovery.

He writes with words and language that inspires me to want to spend a week at the Monastery outside Big Sur to write my next book.

Key discoveries and/or lessons from this book for me were:

Resist Nothing. Go with the Flow. If life is a river and you try to fight the current, life will be an ongoing struggle for you. If you learn to go with the flow and be present in the moment, you will move down the river and onto the next moment of life – never getting stuck trying to go backward.

EFFORT is what matters and reflects who I am – not outcomes and results. Lots of outside forces can impact outcomes and results. The one aspect you have the most say in is your effort. If you give fully of yourself, you will always be growing and learning through every outcome and/or result. Thus, you will be living life fully and growing. That fulfillment lasts longer and is much more consistent than the high from an outcome or result.

Go ALL IN and Share with the World. You’ve only got one life. Why keep everything to yourself?

Forgiveness first lies in forgiving yourself. The person you are angry with, disappointed in, or hurt by is human, “Fallible, full of mistakes, trying to make his way through the world like the rest of us, afraid. Human.” Just like ourselves.

I especially enjoyed when Kamal tells the story of a lesson comedian Louis CK learned from legendary comedian George Carlin. Of course I’ll leave that for you to read yourself.

Treat yourself to this wonderful book of self-discovery and sharing by Kamal Ravikant. If you’ve read the book, please let me know your thoughts of what you discovered.

KindleUnlimited is an amazing program offered by Amazon that provides you thousands of books to choose from each month $9.99 a month. You don’t pay anything for the individual titles you want to read – just the $9.99 a month.

I don’t remember downloading this book – ever. Neither does Karen. Hmmmm. The title sounds interesting. I ask myself, “Why don’t I open it, start reading, and see if it captures me? I have 20 minutes.”

Well that 20 minutes was all I needed to know I wanted to read this simple, quick, and powerful book. I would resume reading at the airport and finish the book on my 2nd flight (slept on the 1st flight). This is a book some people will easily finish in under 2 hours.

The author, Kamal Ravikant, shares lessons and insights that are succinct with the importance of loving yourself.

Love Yourself

Follow a few simple systems to following through with that commitment

Ask yourself a couple questions that could more easily take you down the path you want to experience.

While I’ve always believed in loving yourself and the importance of doing so, Ravikant helped me realize a few ways I was failing to actually live with love for myself and provided me solutions for reprogramming my thoughts do live with love for myself.

During times others or yourself are bringing negativity and/or stress into your life, the book shares the importance of asking yourself the following question, “If I loved myself truly and deeply, would I let myself experience this?”

During moments of making choices, help yourself with the question, “If I loved myself truly and deeply, what would I do?”

I applied the question “If I loved myself truly and deeply, what would I do?” to redirecting my food choices at the airport to be congruent with my wellness outlook and goals.

One area of the book reminded of an important aspect the Landmark Forum reveals – that we are “Meaning-Making-Machines.” The phrase “Meaning-Making-Machines” explains how we, as human beings, make up meanings to everything. We are wired to do so. In doing so, many of us add a ton of unnecessary drama, excuses, and negative energy to our lives. Instead, be sure to realize “what actually happened” verses the meaning you attached to it.

An example a person could have is, “My friend wasn’t talking to me today. He must be mad at me.” What actually happened was “My friend was quiet” – nothing more. nothing less.

A key to being able to recognize the “Nothing more. Nothing Less” moments throughout each day is to believe in yourself. To be able to believe in yourself, you must first love yourself. That is not “like yourself” – that is “love yourself.”

The importance of doing so is shared in Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It. Treat yourself to the cool techniques for learning how to truly and deeply love yourself by purchasing and/or download this book today.

Remember at the beginning of this blog post when I shared that I didn’t remember downloading the book. When I realized it was part of KindleUnlimited, I remembered that I probably downloaded it along with several others in the free reading program – titles that caught my attention and I’m glad this one did.

**Why the image of the book cover is not included in this post:
Upon giving this book a “5 Star” review on Kindle, I noticed the cover of the book for the first time. With the issue of mental health, suicide, and gun violence at the forefront of conversations in our country, I made a choice to not include the image.